100 Greatest Phillies: 94 – Granny Hamner

Playing 16 seasons with the Phillies, Hamner is one of the more decorated names in Phillie history, but alas, he wasn’t really a great player most of the time. He became a full-time player in 1948, and broke out in 1950 with 11 HR and 82 RBI. He locked up a couple more nice seasons until 1955, when he broke down toward an early retirement. With some power, Hamner hit over 100 homers in his Phillies career, but only hit above .280 once in a full season. Traded by the Phillies for Humberto Gonzalez in 1959, Hamner soon retired, before dying in Philadelphia in 1993.

Comment: It seems like low placement for Hamner, but I finally decided on this spot because he just never stood out as a good player (though he received plenty of MVP votes). At best, he was mediocre, both at the plate and on the field. He deserves praise, however, for being a leader in the early 1950s.

Granny Hamner was most noted as an excellent clutch hitter. My father, an avid Philles fan, alway said that if Hamer could bat all the time with men on base, he would have been a 300 hitter Former announce Byron Saam , as well as Richie Ashburn, agreed that Hamner’s best asset was hitting with men on base, especially in scoring position. That is the main reason he received MVP votes.
Otherwise he was a very average fielder and batter.

Hey Tim, I think you missed the boat here with Granny Hamner. He was one of the best clutch hitters of the 50’s and hit .305 with runners in scoring position for his career. When you look at his career stats, they don’t jump out at you, but what you have to realize, he was from a diferent era where middle infielders didn’t put up big power numbers like the middle infielders of today. Ernie Banks came along and changed the shortstop position forever. But when you compare Granny to the other shortstops and secondbasemen of the 50’s, his numbers were very respectable. I think he deserved to be much higher on your list, but thats just my opinion.

Wow,with the world in a recession,I see the Yankees have their own universe…..I hate the IDEA that the Yankees are pulling a knee jerk reaction into trying to “BUY” a title…but it doesn’t work…… see Rodriguez,Alex

Another thing….Scott Boras is the Anti-Christ and the Steinbrenners are nothing more than sheep for Boras to slaughter,whats next….get Manny,try to hoodwink Amaro into getting Hamels for a bag of ballsBetter yet,try and drag Babe Ruth out of his grave,try to revive Billy Martin to replace Girardi,or beter yet….try to rebuild the fountain of youth and let George Steinbrenner have a glass of the water.What a wonderful reunion,Billy and George part 6.Baseball themselves MUST stand up to Boras and tell him AND his minions he represents to ROT IN HELL.

Gee,I thought that Phil Collins went downhill and was fun…now Granny Hafner took a downturn as well.I was just going to Blockbuster to rent out Granny Hafner,but the IDEA of an 80 year old woman in a porno really reminded me of another boring porno…Debbie Does Dishes.

3:38pm: The contract does not include an opt-out clause, according to Danny Knobler. Knobler agrees with Olney that the Red Sox fell about $10MM short. He says the Sox are not inclined to react by “stepping up their pursuit of Derek Lowe or any other top starting pitcher.”

they are kind of hoarding bullpen arms that have been in teh majors at some point in tehir careers but have had a few slop years…a bunch of those non roster invites are the same type as majeski. could turn out well who knows…

now that the yankees feel into another big money pit trap, the mets are poised to follow them right into the quicksand and sign derek lowe…nice…ill bet his price hasnt really dropped that much…if amaro gets wind of this he should come in and make a fake offer to drive up the bidding for derek lowe, then as soon as the mets go overboard and coutner you let them take the poison pill contract..

Nice name, “Derek Lowe = Mets”, you can tell you’re a real lifer. Yes, watching the Tankees aim their leaf blower filled with 100’s at every high-priced free agent is wrenching to both stomach and soul, but I think the real problem has to be that the MLB has engineered the kind of broken system that allows teams with disproportionately wealthier owners to spend recklessly and with total impunity. THe bottom line is, as vile as the Yankees money machine must seem to any real fan of the game, teams like this will continue to exist until MLB execs. grow a conscience, think once for what’s actually best for the game as a whole, and institute some system (likely some type of salary cap) to stop the utter eradication of the fair market in baseball.

To metsblow4show~ Excellent comments on Granny Hamner. As you noted, Hamner played in a different era where middle infielders rarely put up “power” numbers you see today. He was indeed an outstanding clutch hitter for the team and I too believe he should be ranked higher on the list.

I will give it to the Yankees; sign CC and Burnet for 200+Million then go and ask the City for money for the stadium. At least the Mets are dropping payroll to afford new payroll… Yanks spending way more than they dropped.

SC,with the Phillies winning in 08,I expected my Amazins to pull a knee jerk reaction by going after the moon….however,Omar is doing the Wright thing in spending money wisely and keeping calm.Omar did what he had to do without going over the top and yet overhauled a glaring weakness in the bullpen.Mets still need more to solidify their team for 09,yet have the potential to contend.I know the Amazins have one more deal in the works,will it be Lowe or Manny,as they say in the NY Lottery….Hey,ya never know.Now that my Jets and Isles are done for,It feels good to keep up with my primary team,The NY Mets.

Theyll wait about a year and a half and then call the red sox up…i wonder what boston will cough up…i doubt theyd even consider trading lester..maybe bucholz or masterson or some unnamed as yet unemerged pitching prospect of theirs..youkilis would REALLY thrive in philadelphia but theyll sign him to an extension.

Tim, this countdown has become a fun thing for my dad and I to do, he was born in 1921 so he remembers these older guys. I asked him if he remembered Phil Collins, he said’Oh yeah, Fidgety Phil”. Dad’s memory is failing pretty fast now, but stuff from his earlier life he remembers like it was yesterday, so every day when I call him I read these to him, he really enjoys it. Thanks, Tim.

I strongly agree with those who say Hamner is way underrated on the list.

Although injuries beginning in 1955 cut his career short and turned him into a parttime player, until then he was a three time all-star as both shortstop and second baseman. For seven seasons from ’48-54, Hamner was one of the National Leagues best, toughest players. Although he made a lot of his errors on balls hit right at him, he could go in the whole and gun down runners with the strongest arm of any contemporary shortstop. He drove in runs and could hit with power.

I have had conversations with several ballplayers of his era and to a man they say he was vastly underrated because of the New York media. IMHO he should be ranked much higher than this in Phillie history.